'Twas the Week Before Voodoo ...

For the second year, I'll spin Christmas music at Tales of the Cocktail's "Tales of the Toddy" - a celebration of wintry drinks during the holiday season. It takes place December 20 at the Hyatt Regency, and tickets are on sale now.

Also, comedian Wanda Sykes will perform at the Mahalia Jackson Theater on Sunday, October 28. Tickets are on sale now, but My Spilt Milk will give away tickets over the course of the next week on the site and the My Spilt Milk Facebook page. Keep an eye on both for chances to win.

On to the week ahead in New Orleans:

Friday: Afghan Whigs, Wussy, Tipitina's, 10 p.m.: The Afghan Whigs always gravitated toward the weird love of people spinning out of control, and decision to broadly frame their rock sound in soul music brackets gave it resonance. Their choice to cover a Frank Ocean tune while doing their reunion tour says they've lost nothing meaningful over time. (tickets)

Saturday: Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition, Chickie Wah Wah, 10 p.m.: The Mississippi-based Mathus is a southern rock original, and he's got a new album in the can for Fat Possum Records due out in January.

Also on Saturday: Band of Horses, The Happy Talk Band, House of Blues, 8 p.m. (tickets); The Essentials, The Circle Bar, 10 p.m.

Tuesday: Ab Baars/Ig Hennemann Duo, The Blue Nile Upstairs, 10 p.m.: Baars and Henneman are major players in the Dutch improvised music community, and they visit the Open Ears Series as part of a brief North American tour. Look for an interview Tuesday with Ab Baars on this site.

Wednesday: Exitmusic, The Circle Bar, 10 p.m.: The married Brooklyn duo/Secretly Canadian artists make dramatic music akin to that of The National, but without its austerity.

Also on Wednesday: GWAR, Devildriver, Cancer Bats, Legacy of Disorder, House of Blues, 7:30 p.m. (tickets)

Thursday: Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, The Stooges Brass Band, House of Blues, 8:30 p.m.: Shorty's rep is such that when I interviewed Thomas Dolby last week, he asked me if he should see Shorty at this show. (tickets)

On Friday night, New Orleans Museum of Art gets into the Halloween spirit in its way with a scary movie - Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. It will be screened outside around 6:45 (sundown). (tickets)

On Saturday night, The NOLA Underground Hip-Hop Awards return, this time to the Joy Theater. Each year it honors the cutting edge in New Orleans hip-hop and celebrates the pioneers, this year including the Ghetto Twinz. (tickets)

In recent years, TribeCon was a gathering of the entrepreneurial tech folks on the Thursday before The Voodoo Experience started the next day. For a long time, it sounded like TribeCon wasn't going to happen this year, but GNO Inc. stepped in to help make a scaled-down version happen. It will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Peristyle in City Park with keynote speaker Thomas Dolby, who'll play Voodoo the next day. Admission is free, but you have to register.

Also on Thursday, the stage play "Bounce Music" will be performed at the Joy Theater at 7 p.m. It's the story of 10th Ward Buck's journey; it's not clear if it will come as far into the present as his current run for City Council in District B.